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FIRE IN THE EARTH
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De
Sancy knew of the loyalty of this man. He knew he would give his life
before surrendering the gem. So he had an idea. The body of the
messenger was taken to the palace and the stomach was slit open. There
the diamond was found. The statement that a man swallowed a 53-carat
stone is as hard to digest as it must have been for the messenger to
swallow the stone, but that's history for you.
Anyway,
de Sancy didn't turn the gem over to the king. Instead he sold it to
Queen Elizabeth of England. In the Inventory of Jewels in the Tower of
London, March 22, 1605 (James I), it is described as "one fayre
dyamonde, cutt in Fawcetts, Bought by Sauncey." It remained in England
until 1669, passing from Charles I, who was beheaded, to his widow,
Henrietta Maria, who presented it to Somerset, Earl of Worcester. Then
it passed back again to the English crown during the reign of King
James II, who was crushed at the battle of the Boyne. He Red to France,
where Louis XIVprotected him for a while and then, as a price of
further protection, demanded that James Stuart sell the diamond. This
he did, for a price which history puts at $125,000.
But
later on Louis XVI was beheaded and the stone was stolen from the Garde
Meuble in Paris. That was in 1793 when the most spectacular jewel
robbery in history took place. It was so carefully planned that for six
nights in succession preceding its discovery nearly fifty robbers
entered the Garde Meuble, taking out many crown jewels, including the
"French Blue" (now known as the Hope) and the Regent. Then one night
two men were seen sliding down rope ladders; they were arrested, tried,
and executed. Others were captured and some of the jewels were
recovered, but most of them disappeared forever. The Regent and Hope
(140)
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